


Jere's First Heartbreak

by amanda_jolene



Series: The Nelsons [8]
Category: My Mad Fat Diary
Genre: F/M, Gen, Grown up Rinn, The Nelsons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2014-07-21
Packaged: 2018-02-09 20:35:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1996920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amanda_jolene/pseuds/amanda_jolene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU The Nelsons. Finn and Rae's oldest deals with his first heartbreak. (Emily/Jere)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jere's First Heartbreak

His son isn’t in school. 

Jere’s history teacher (who has spent many classes fantasizing about Mr. Nelson taking her against the copier in the teacher’s lounge) pops in after his second class to let him know that his oldest child was not at his desk during class. 

His phone goes straight to voicemail. 

Finn decides not to worry Rae because he’s going to strangle the boy when he gets his hands on him. Reckless was what he had become. He’d caught Jere sneaking in twice (once at four in the morning) and now this? Finn fully expected this from the youngest son (who spent the vast majority of his time coming up with ways to give Finn a heartattack) but not from Jere. He finds someone to watch his classes and heads home, angry.

But that anger dissipates when he finds Jere making tea, a tinge of yellow still visible from the black eye he had won in a fight a few weeks ago. 

"Funny. Thought you were supposed to be in history." 

He doesn’t look up, just shrugs. “Couldn’t face it.” 

"The fall of the Roman empire wasn’t that devastating, was it?"

The boy is wiping his eyes on his shirt, a hard tremble in his lip as he tries so hard to hold it in. “Emily broke up with me.” 

"You want to talk about?"

He shakes his head. Of course he doesn’t. Finn didn’t want to talk about it when Rae brok up with him in college either. But Jere was Finn’s mini-me and he knew if he stood there long enough, the boy would crack. But the time time is ready, he turns to Finn. “She said we’re better off as friends.” 

History repeating itself. “She say why?” 

"Some shit about us being unequally matched. The hell does that even mean? I know she’s smarter than me but-" 

"It’s got nothing to do with you." 

Jere braces himself against the counter and Finn know that feeling, too. The girl you love ripping the floor right out from underneath you was enough to send any boy sprawling. 

"Jere-" 

"Can we not do this now?" He picks up his mug and eases past Finn. 

"Sure, buddy. Whenever you’re ready, I’m here." 

(Finn keeps an ear to his door all day.)

When Rae gets home, Finn drags her upstairs, whispering the situation into her ear and warning Seb to stay downstairs. Jere might be Finn’s mini-me, his buddy and partner in crime, but the boy is putty when it comes to his mother (another trait he shares with Finn). 

He tells them he doesn’t want to talk and Finn’s heart aches for him because he looks worse than before, hair messy and eyes bloodshot. It only takes Rae rubbing his back and asking him to talk to her for him to sit up, tears gathering for another round, and he lets her wrap him up in her arms. 

Rae gets her turn first. She tells him that it’s not his fault and it’s not Emily’s fault either. “I blame society because it’s not freakin’ 1996 anymore and we should be allowed to love whoever the hell we want without people making snide remarks.” 

"What does that have to do with anything?" 

So she tells him all about the pressures of being a fat girl with a fit boyfriend and the more she tells him, the madder he gets (Finn gets a little hot under the collar, too). “They did that to you? Do you think they’re doing the same to her?” 

Rae softly touches his fading black eye, the one he got from a fight with some tosser who made Emily cry. “You tell me.” 

Jere groans low in the back of his throat like he’s about to be sick and Finn figures that’s his que. Rae slips out and he take her place on the bed. “Can I give you some advice?” The boy nods and Finn slings an arm around him. “Boys like me and you… we never understand it, you know? Right now you’re probably thinking that she’s perect to you, yeah? We don’t know what it’s like to walk around feeling like you’ve got to apologize for just existing, so when you two talk, and you will talk, don’t let her tell you she’s sorry. Let her know that with you, she’s got nothing to be sorry for, that you’re safe space, ok?” Jere nods and Finn hugs him up. “And turn on your phone for the love of God. She might be trying to call you.” 

The situation gets worse before it gets better. They run out of tea twice in three days (Finn fears the country will be sucked dry before the situation is resolved) and the boy is looking more and more dishelved as the days tick on. He stops eating and he’s ghosting around the house, and Rae and Finn start taking turns listening at his door for his cries and his aching breaths when he manages to get some sleep. 

Finn tells himself tha he’s not going to ge involved and when he asks Emily to stay after class, it’s just to aks if she was ok because her last paper wasn’t up to par. But she’s shifting awkwardly in front of him and she’s got the same bags under er eyes that Jere has. “He’s a mess.” 

"It’s for the best." 

"Best for who?" He questions softly. 

Her bottom lip trembles and she gives a tiny shrug. “Him.” 

"Tell that to his heart, yeah?" 

Two nights later, Rae and Finn are sitting outside his door at 2 AM. He’s been on the phone for 4 hours and then he’s silent and they hear the distinct sound of his window opening and him slipping out. 

"Should we bust him?" Rae asks. 

Finn shakes his head. “Nah. Poor kid doesn’t have it as easy as we did.” 

"Your dad was literally never home." 

"Nope," he reaches across the space and takes her hand in his. "You sure did spend the night with a Chloe a lot that year." 

Rae laughs. “I really did.” 

Jere is half-asleep the next morning at breakfast but he doesn’t ask to stay home. Finn keeps the radio off and lets him sleep on the way to school. But his math teacher pops in around 11 and tells Finn that Jere missed class and Emily was missing from her seat in the back. 

The boy picks up the second time Finn calls and he hears something soft playing in the background. “You ok?” 

"Um, yeah. Yeah." 

"Better question is are you being safe?" 

Jere knows he’s busted but he’s happier than he’s been in weeks so he just laughs. “We’re just talking.” 

"Right. I was born yesterday, too. Well, remember that your mum gets off at 3 today." 

"Ok." 

"And Jere?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Put on some Percy Sledge. He’ll say it better than you ever can."


End file.
